Chapter 6

Taylor

“Mrs. Williams, there’s a…guy on his way up to see you,” Lydia said from the intercom.

            “I told you no interruptions, no exceptions. And why is he already on his way up?” I replied. I’d only been back to work a few days and it was showing. Thankfully I had a great team and things still ran smoothly in my seven-week absence. I had to get out of the house though. It felt like the walls were closing in on me and Aaron had become unbearable. I wanted to give him a chance to plead his case, but the level of betrayal and the conflict he caused between us was just unforgiveable. Being one of the city’s top divorce lawyers had its perks. If I wanted to, I could destroy his entire world. His existence would cease with just a few words uttered from my mouth. Blakely had been trying to get me to do just that, but I didn’t want to hurt him. I wasn’t bitter. I was hurt. After it was all said and done, he still owned my heart. He’d have to do it from a distance though. Our home was now my home.

            “I tried to stop him, but he ignored me. I’ve already alerted security,” Lydia said.

            “Is he a husband?” I asked. Angry husbands - soon to be ex-husbands - tended to make scenes on a regular basis. Wives as well, but our clientele usually consisted of women seeking vengeance on cheating or abusive husbands. Occasionally, we got a wife who was only in it for the money. They were easy to spot and we usually refused to represent them.

            “No, he said he’s an old friend,” Lydia replied.

            I disconnected us and got up to lock my office door. I didn’t have any old friends, especially not males. I’d made it halfway across the room before the door opened. Black eyes and a dazzling smile stopped me in my tracks. Isaac slipped inside and locked the door behind him. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since the day he brought me home and he looked even more delectable than he did then.

            “I should have known you would have good security,” he said just before banging began at the door.

            “How do you know Aaron?” I asked.

            “You think you could possibly call your guard force off before turning on the lawyer in you?” he asked.

            That would only make sense, right? The door opened and my head of security, Joey, and four other rushed in. All of them had guns aimed at Isaac as they ordered him to lie down on the floor with his hands behind his head. Somehow, I knew that wouldn’t happen. He didn’t come off as the surrendering type. Dominance was definitely one of his stronger traits. He took a few steps back, but otherwise ignored them and kept his attention focused on me.

            “Whenever you’re ready,” he said.

            “I won’t ask you again, get on the ground and put your hands behind your head,” Joey yelled as they surrounded him.

            “Now would be good, Taylor,” Isaac said.

            “Joey, he’s fine,” I said. I loved the way my name flowed from behind those lips.

            “Are you sure?” Joey asked as he risked a quick glance in my direction.

            “Yes, I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I be sure?”

            “Because he has a gun,” Joey said.

            “Really good security,” Isaac said as though he was impressed.

            “Why do you have a gun?” I asked.

            “Something about my second amendment right and actually I have two,” he said.

            “Why do you have two guns?” I asked.

            “I just told you,” he said.

            “Mrs. Williams, I need to know if he’s a threat,” Joey demanded.

            I thought we covered that already. “Joey, it’s fine. He’s not a threat,” I repeated. Or was he? Why did he have two guns? What was he planning to shoot?

            “Stand down,” Joey said. They lowered their guns and headed for the door. “Would you like for me to stay close, Mrs. Williams?”

            “Unnecessary, Joey,” I said. He stared at Isaac for a few seconds then turned and disappeared through the door – leaving it slightly ajar.

            “Don’t worry, I’ll get that,” Isaac said and closed the door before facing me again. “What are you doing here?”

            I was in my office, right? I almost glanced around to be sure, but that didn’t seem like a good move. Before I could respond the door opened again.

            “So, you’re the cause of all the commotion?” Blakely asked as she gave Isaac a drawn out once over.

            “Guilty,” he answered with a smirk.

            “Very well worth it,” she said with a smile.

Jesus, could she be any more obvious? Blakely and I met in law school. We started our law firm, Williams, Carroll, & Associates, as soon as we graduated. Seven years later, we’re in a league of our own. We specialized in family law, mainly divorce, and the irony of it all was that we were both happily married. Or at least she still was.

“You must be Blakely?” Isaac asked.

“The one and only,” she confirmed.

“I’m Isaac,” he said before he took her hand and kissed it.

Why did that upset me?

“The Isaac?” she asked as she looked at me.

I should have stayed home. I ignored them both and went back to my desk. I was tired and wanted to lie down.

“Why are you here?” Isaac asked again.

“I work for a living,” I answered. I wished he would stop smiling. If he did then maybe I could focus on questioning him and not being lost in a trance like a twelve year old with a hero crush.

“Blakely, would it be asking too much for me to get a moment alone with your friend?” he asked.

“You mean to tell me you didn’t take advantage of the alone time you had when you kidnapped her for a week?” she asked as she headed for the door.

She made no attempt to hide the two thumbs up she gave me; her approval of him. She didn’t even know him. I didn’t even know him.

“I like this,” he said as he looked around the office. “You have good taste,” he said before sitting in one of the plush leather chairs in front of my desk.

“Isaac, put yourself in my shoes,” I said. I wasn’t in the mood for mindless chitchat. If he came here thinking I would just go with the flow he was sadly mistaken and I was pretty sure Joey was posted somewhere within five feet of my office.

“His specialty is criminal defense. Why wouldn’t I know him?” he asked.

His logic was severely twisted, that was the exact reason he shouldn’t know Aaron. Aaron’s clientele ranged from bottom feeders to criminal elite. It took me a moment to absorb what he was saying. “Aaron has represented you?” I needed that to not be true, but I was sure a part of me already knew. The part that went back to the night he told me my attackers were indisposed.

“Indirectly,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Care to elaborate?”

“Not really. Why are you here? You should be at home still recovering,” he said.

“Get out of my office, Isaac.” How dare he come into my establishment telling me what I should or shouldn’t be doing? Who was he to question me or dictate what I did? Who was he period?

“Why?” he asked.

“If you are in any way associated with Aaron, we have nothing more to discuss,” I said.

“Then he’s fired. I’m not leaving,” he responded, his brows furrowed with irritation.

“Why are you here?” Just that quickly he’d terminated Aaron? He waltzed in here, questioned my decisions, refused to give me straight answers, and now he refused to leave while acting like I was irritating him by wanting answers. This didn’t work for me.

“I came to see why you were back at work already. Mimi said you would be out for 6-8 weeks,” he said.

“Not very good at math, I see. It’s been six and a half, closer to seven weeks since we last met,” I said. He flashed that devastating smile and relaxed into the chair. When the unexpected urge to lean forward and touch his face hit me I fisted my hands and moved them from my desk to my lap.

“So you’ve been keeping track of our time,” he said.

What? No. What did he mean by our time? I hadn’t kept track because of him. I just knew how long I’d been out of work.

“You should let me take you out this weekend,” he said.

“Get out of my office, Isaac,” I said again.

“Something tells me that’s not a yes,” he said.

“I’m a married woman.”

“Still?” he asked as though the thought disgusted him. “But why?”

“My relationship with my husband is none of your business,” I said while suppressing the urge to smile at him.

“Very true. You’re right. Which is why I’m not here to talk about him. I’m here to tell you I’ll pick you up at seven Saturday night,” he said as he got up.

Pick me up? Was he delusional or was this a part of that dominant trait I knew existed within him.

“Would you like to throw me over your shoulder or should I take my hair down so you can drag me by it?” I asked.

“I’d love to throw you over my shoulder and I’ve seen you with your hair down, both outstanding visuals, but we’ll save them for later. You don’t have to dress up or anything, we can just chill and talk. Maybe we’ll both get some answers to our questions,” he said as he opened the door.

It was probably good that I was left a bit speechless because I would have most likely said something Joey shouldn’t have heard.

“Everything okay, ma’am?” he asked as he stood partially blocking the door and doing his best to ignore Isaac.

“My man, I’m trying to be civil right now, but you’re testing my patience. Back the fuck up,” Isaac said as he pushed his way past Joey.

Bit of a quick temper?

“I’ll see to it that security is tightened up, Mrs. Williams. He should have never gotten past the first floor,” Joey said once Isaac was no longer within earshot.

He was right. My office was on the third floor. How was it possible that Isaac was able to get this far? “That would be very reassuring, Joey.”

“Ma’am, I may be out of my lane, but I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t question the current company you keep,” he said.

“Yes, you’re extremely far out of your lane. I didn’t hire you to question me or my actions. I hired you to guarantee the safety of my employees and I, which, up until now, you have done very well. Your focus shouldn’t be questioning the company I keep, it should be making sure they’re kept where I want them until I say otherwise; in this case, the lobby,” I said. He obviously knew more about Isaac than I did and while I would love to pick his brain, I wouldn’t let him forget the parameters of our work relationship. I was the employer, he was the employee.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

I could tell he wanted to say more, but he closed the door instead. Why did Isaac’s presence seem to make everyone lose his or her damned mind? First, Aaron and Vida, and now, Joey. I pushed thoughts of them from my mind and went back to reviewing the notes from the case I was currently working on.